Looking for Mac Taylor in New York

I just return from the Big Apple. On the way home from my training/meeting in Al Capone city, Chicago.

Am so excited, because I thought I could finally pin point where Mac Taylor runs around in his day to day activities in CSI: New York.

Sadly, I was a bit disappointed.

The Big Apple is actually not like how it was featured in movies (yeah..yeah..it still has the dark, gloomy touch). My friends, Debbie, Eric and their daughter Joscelyn picked me up from Newark and we drove to their home in Flushing, Queens via Manhattan (pronounced Manha’an).

My first impression of Chinatown in Manhattan was: it looks like Pasar Jatinegara and Kampung Melayu. Sorry, americans, but your city is no different than mine.

Neehow, we got to Flushing and they feed me with: Nasi Lemak!!! Oh woooowwww…that was the best food I’ve ever tasted in the past 10 days….yeaaaaaayyyy…

Deb & Eric’s new house in Flushing is close to the main street and Flushing is well known for having the most foreign birth residents in the whole NY. No wonder, i feel like being in Singapore or Hongkong but with snow and a chilling cold air.

First day, I lay low…was very tired (the United flight was not at all exciting…definitely Asian airlines rocks) because I left Chicago at 5.30am after a late night for a friend’s party and I got to be a selectee in Chicago O’Hare. My..my…am I suspicious?

Deb and Eric took me to Bayside where my eyes grew big at seeing lots of shops (got no time for shopping in Chicago), but in the end, I bought lots of books on digital (thanks to Eric who works at Barnes and Nobble, I got a 30% discount). That day I was asleep so fast, I even left Jo playing around while Deb is in the shower….sorry Deb…

Next day, we went to Kissena Park for the snow experience and then off to Riverhead, Tanger Premium Outlet..OMG…..I went totally crazy with all the discounts and the shops..

Last day in NY, I decided I wanted to see Manhattan. So I went with Deb to work in 3rd Avenue, took the 7 train from Main St Flushing to Grand Central Station just like every NY commuter does every day. What a trip that was. I was so overwhelmed by the experience.

Deb went to work and I was left alone with a map of NY and a little direction (just go to Times Square..everything starts there, Deb said). So, I went..on foot, walking about 9 blocks. I need the exercise anyway. Then I took the hop on hop off City Sights bus and go around downtown. I was going to do the whole tour, but the agent said it will need two days. So I decided to pick and choose my destination. I pass on Ground Zero, Empire State and Central Park. But, clearly Statue of Liberty is in my list.

It took me 1 hour waiting in line to get to the statue and we have to go through security checks like in airport. Got to the statue, take pics and then I was sooooo tired, I fell asleep in the ferry back. Hop on the bus again and complete my rounds. Back to Deb’s office, get on teh 7 train to Flushing, pack and get ready to get to Newark.

I was going to spend 4 days in NY but change it to 3 days only. Now I regret it. I shouldve stayed another day.

Oh…I didn’t get to meet Mac Taylor (did meet a couple of NYPD though). Well…CSI: NY is taped in LA i think…hahahaha.

PS: I did went to LA when I come in, but only for 3 hours lay over plane change from SQ to UA. I didn’t even get to see the Hollywood sign…sigh.

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Asian look but got ang moh price, what?

My previous post about Singaporean food contains food and eateries that I frequented in Singapore. One place that is famous for its food is Newton Circus hawker center. This place has been included in every tourist infomation in Singapore (along with Lau Pa Sat).

I havent been to Newton Circus for about 20 years  — despite the fact that I visited Singapore very often. So, you would understand that I will be so eager to comeback to the place.

But our latest experience was horrible. Here’s the story:

It was late, around 8.30pm. We were very tired after a long day at the Singapore Science Center and the Imax theater in Jurong East. Hubby and I wanted to take the taxi back to downtown, but my kids wants to ride on the MRT, so we went. Instead of taking the East West Line (shorter distance, but we need to change lines), they wanted to take the North South Line (the red one) that although directly took us to our stop at Orchard, will go around Singapore first. It was dark outside and my son, who is very tired, is acting up. So we must bear with the consequences.

We’re hungry and tired – a terrible combination don’t you think? So we’re looking forward to have something to eat, wherever that is. We have been contemplating on what do we want to eat. Options are not many: Ayam Bakar Ojolali, Ayam Penyet Ria, McDonalds or the Food Republic. Yeeeccchhh….booorrriiiingggg.

Then, a light bulb went up: Newton Circus! We’re passing that station anyway. Sounds like a yummy idea no?

Hubby was there two nights ago, and he said there we can eat our favorite foods for an affordable price. I can eat my yong tou fu, hubby can eat his duck rice, daughter can have her favorite prawns and picky-eater son can have his beloved ayam goreng.

Alas, a 8.30pm, the circus is still packed. We wander around looking for empty seats, while the hawker sellers tried to secure seats near to their stalls. We almost give up, when we saw an empty seat just at the end of a long alley.

We were guided by a seller and immediately he gave us the menu. Yep! Prawns, and other seafood. Yum. My daughter’s sleepy eyes went bright when she saw the prawns. Tiger prawns, lobsters, crab, etc. She said she wants 4 prawns. Her brother also wants prawns, we almost ordered 6 prawns, but we settled with 4 prawns only. We also ordered grilled fish and some pok choy. The owner persuaded us to order steamed fish instead of grilled. But hubby doesnt like steamed fish. While I’m not in the mood for food (that’s a rare occassion).

Son still wants to eat ayam goreng, so of we go find his ayam goreng. As its getting late, I do not want to go around the block and I persuaded him to have the chicken rice as usual. Thank God he agreed. But he does not want to have the chicken cut into little pieces. Okay, so be it.

Then we wait — and here comes the prawns. OMG.

Instead of the ordinary prawns that my daughter like, here it comes. For large tiger prawns in garlic and butter. Smells yummy and it taste quite good. But hubby and I were looking at each other. HOW MUCH DOES THIS PRAWN COST???

Then Daughter said she only wants one prawn. Hubby took one, and I have to finish the other two. The fish came and its not grilled. Its steamed fish placed on a grilled banana leaf. Hubby was not happy. But we ate away anyway. Hunger, what.

Son ate his chicken rice in a gusto. He was hungry and he didn’t want to take part in eating the prawns. Its all up to us.

Mr stall owner was very nice to us. He brought tissue, fill up our drinks and even negotiated with the ayam goreng stall owner (who only speaks chinese) for us. And that increases our suspicion.

When the bill came, as suspected, we go the Ang Moh price! The dinner (4 prawns, 1 grilled kakap, 1 chicken rice, 1 pok choy and 3 white rice) costs us SGD 126!!!!! Thats around IDR 800,000. For a dinner in a place like Pecenongan (well, its much better than pecenongan sih). And the prawn itself costs SGD 84 (translation: it will provide 3 days worth of normal dinner for the 4 of us). We all look Asian, but we got Ang Moh price…aiyaaaa….Its our fault anyway…we shouldve known that tiger prawns must be expensive. We don’t speak the language here…

That is the most expensive hawker dinner we’ve ever had. And that’s it for Newton. So long…farewell…not going back…unless we know for sure what to eat and definitely not with a totally empty stomach!

Senor JaF — I shouldve listen closely to your recommendation. Newton Circus better be kept in my old memories, where dinner is still cheap (well, 20 years ago, someone else pays for it).

Lesson learned: try to speak singlish while you’re in Singapore or mandarin. Never revealed that you’re Indonesian, because for them: Ah…..Indonesian…good people, like shopping, must got so much money like Ang Moh, what?

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Food Notes (an excerpt of 3 weeks of eating Singaporean Food)

Phew…

Am back in my hometown. I spent most of October trying to be kiasu. I am glad to be back to my old self again.

I think I should get a commendation from MM Lee for my previous posts about Singapore. Clearly, I like Singapore for its order, its efficient public transport (I am a great public transport fans: learning how to jump from metro mini since I was 12 years old); its great greenery despites of the lack of land and its technologically advanced infrastructure.

But I do have some inputs for my Singaporean friends: be different, be adventourous, and get a life!

Singapore is also probably the pioneer of food courts. In their HDB, a food court is always within walking distance. Be it in their void deck or they set up tables and chairs and presto! an open air food court.

To my knowledge based on my mall hopping exercises, Singapore has 3 major food court chain: Kopi Tiam, Food Republic and Banquet.

These three offered similar variety of foods. There will be chinese, indian, malay, padang (yes padang or Indonesian), western and japanese foods. The difference will be on the food selection or the tenants.

Kopi Tiam, I think this one is the largest chain, is identified with their white ambiance. Its everywhere. Two of the places I hang out at (read: hospitals) have Kopi Tiams — and my favorite dish is of course: Yong Tau Foo. Good thing in Kopi Tiam is that they have the Kopi Tiam Card. This is a stored value card which you used to purchase food from any Kopi Tiam stalls. Even food courts introduced cashless transaction. It is very handy if you either do not currently have cash or you’re running out of small changes. Hehehehe

Food Republic is not as old as Kopi Tiam. It has thematic ambience which is different in every venue. The one in Wisma Atria takes the village surrounding. The one in Suntec City is decorated as if we are eating in an old English Library (that’s not a match I think. We are not allowed to bring food to libraries). The one in VivoCity is designed to resemble an old chinatown alleyway or hutongs. Its nice to have different decoration.

The third: Banquet, I can’t see much basically. i’ve only been to two Banquets. One in HarbourFront and and the one in VivoCity next to Kopi Tiam in Basement 2. Banquet differs from the other two foodcourts by claiming to have all halal food in it. So, if you want to make sure that your food is not placed near Ms. Piggy the short legged cow, go to Banquet.

Before Kopi Tiam, Food Republic or Banquet era, waaaaay back when I was still wearing white and blue, the hawker place to eat is at Newton Circus. They offered lots of foods to satisfy even the most picky eaters like my son. The seafood, the satay…yum.

Anyhow……let’s go back to foods in Singapore.

If you’ve seen me, you’ll know that I love food. I’m not picky about food, although there are certain things that I totally dislike.

Anyway, since I travel to Singapore quite often (no, its not for pleasure), I have come to favor certain Singaporean dish. One in particular is Yong Tau Foo. Its like bakwan malang, only healthier. It has veggies, fish balls, tofu, siomay etc etc. You can have it with soup (like bakwan) or dry or with curry sauce.  I always liked it dry — with lots of hoisin sauce. Yummm. The best Yong Tau Foo I know is in Kopi Tiam at NUH. Well, actually….the food in Singapore taste pretty much the same everywhere.  

Another food that I like is the Hainan Chicken Rice, which is said as the original Singaporean dish. Singapore’s Hainan Chicken Rice is different that our version. Here in Jakarta, you can fine Chicken Rice at Chatterbox Cafe — which is originated in Singapore. But still the taste is different. Best chicken rice? Its the Five Star Chicken Rice shop at River Valley road.

I came to like Singapores’ Kaya Toast as well now. Just erase the soft boiled egg in the package and voila: my kinda breakfast (or tea time snacks).

There’s this place in Food Republic in Wisma Atria that sells Kaya Toast. Always a long queue — never got the chance to buy some there. But I heard its goooooddddd…

Dimsum or Yum Cha is available in Indonesia and in Singapore, the best place to eat Dim Sum is in Chinatown (of course laaaah). My friend Elina introduced me to this great jewel, hidden in Trengganu Street. The best ones are: char siew bao and prawn and mango roll. NUMERO UNO! and you know, since most of the waiter there are (i think) from mainland, it is difficult to communicate with them in English. The menu has the names written in English and Chinese and pictures. That’s a relief. But to reduce miscommunications, they implemented a ‘press the button’ communications. In every table, there are four buttons with numbers: 1 for placing order, 2 for additional requests, 3 for asking for the bill and 4 for more drinks. The buttons are connected to a number display near the cashier, so the cashier and waitresses can see which table in which area requested what. Cool. Beats the urge to call out: mbak…mbak…sini deh.

Singapore’s other signature dish is the Chilli Crab. Best place to eat this food they say will be at the East Coast Park on the way to the airport. But you can get the same thing at Jumbo at Clarke Quay. Beware, both are tourist areas, so price is steep.

In a slightly different taste, the Cuppage Plaza have lots of Japanese and Korean bars. But they have one of the best Robatayaki kiosk. You must book in advance (that will not guarantee you’ll have space though) since seats are very limited. But, boy..the food are yummy.

WE don’t have to worry about being homesick, because within the Orchard area, Indoensian foods are available almost everywhere. Ayam Penyet Ria is in Lucky Plaza. Tambuah Mas is in Paragon. Garuda Padang Restaurant is behind Park Hotel (and another one in Vivocity). But our favorite will be Ayam Bakar Ojolali at Lucky Plaza, level 3. 

My other friend in Singapore, Senor JaF, suggested moi to go to Geylang Serai (isn;t it the red light district of Spore?) or Adam Road to sample different types of food. He said, we can find even yummier foods there (I believe him after meeting him a couple of time…hahahaha…never doubt Senor JaF on food). Unfortunately we do not have the courage to venture beyond our comfort zones (my hubby’s that is not mine. I’m game to go anywhere).

Another food that I like is the chicken wing in Ikea Coffee Shop. Actually, I like shopping at Ikea and the food there is not so bad.

Beside eating, my favorite past times in Singapore is buy two sotong heads on a stick at Old Chang Kee and munch it while sitting in Orchard road pedestrian bench and finish it with a good Sweet Corn with Bread Ice Potong.

Next time I’m back in Singapore. I must go to Geylang Serai and Holland Village. And I’m going to haunt my friends in Singapore to take me there…………

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Snow City vs IceWorld; Science Center vs Museum IpTek

This will be short.

Actually Indonesia has some similar public fun activity places with Singapore.

We have the IceWorld in Ancol (heard it moved someplace else), which is basically an ex Diamond Ice Cream storage turned into an ‘iceworld’ where they said we can experience snow — naaaah…they have nice ice carving though. We can see that in most weddings.

Singapore has the Snow City in Jurong East. Here, temperature is minus 7 degrees, so we can also experience snow (snowing time is every other hour) and we can try to bobsled down from around 50 m. The venue is soooooo cold, I only used 1/4 of my allocated time to play. Hence, i don’t have my picture taken while making snowman……

Singapore has the Singapore Science Center (I must say this place is amazing). School children and adults can both enjoy the wonders of the science world. Learn about how a PLTA works, how to make a water twister, see a thunderbolt show (very noisy) and all things that we need to learn (from our text book) when we are in high school. They presented it in a fun and very informative way (yeah…they are good in this area).

We can actually ‘make’ things in Science Center. My daughter understands the concept of PLTA by actually turning the valve to pour water into the turbine and see the lights goes brighter and brighter. She asked how a PLTN works and I tell her that if there’s an exhibit on PLTN I won’t go there. hehehehe.

According to my nephew, our Museum Iptek in Taman Mini also have similar exhibits. But….“they are all dirty and not interesting, since mostly are there to see and information are there to be read.” There you go…….

I’m just thinking…..Indonesian have been winning physics and mathematics competitions all over the world. So, we must be cleverer than the other competing countries. But, why can’t we have a decent science center where we can encourage more young minds to open their heart for science ya?

Hmmmmm………maybe because we tends to think that science will not give you enough income to feed the family??

I rest my case.

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A Bintaroan in Singapore: Sentosa, The Beach with No Waves

We are now in Sentosa. After 8 days living as a temporary Singaporeans (meaning living in an apartment, eating at Kopi Tiam, riding the MRTs and SMRT and Tibs busses), we are now experiencing a life as a tourist in Singapore.

 

Sentosa is a miniscule island to the south of Singapore. On a clear day, you can see a glimpse of our motherland, Indonesia’s Batam island. If you’re going home on a ferry, the Harbourfront pier is your immigration check out point. Sentosa is only a stone’s throw away from Harbourfront and the grandiose Vivocity shopping mall (in Singapore, you will bump into shopping malls whenever you turn left or right or go straight).

 

In some ways, Sentosa is quite similar with Ancol, only cleaner and more organized that is. Mind you, Ancol or Jakarta Baycity is I think they call Ancol, now is now much much much better nowadays. It resembles Sentosa in quite some ways. Or is it the other way around. Dunnolah.

To go to Sentosa, you can ride a bus, take a taxi, ride the MRT to Harborfront and then rid the skytrain SEntosa Express from Vivocity to Sentosa’s Beach Station  (everywhere in Singapore MUST have a train) or easiest is by taxi. Entry ticket is SGD 2, but you can go for free if you’re checking in at one of the five hotels. Hehehehe…

 

Sentosa has around 5 hotels and resorts, with several fun-filled entertainment. One Skyride (where you are sitting on a swing chair and going up up up on a the hill), one luge ride (this one is awsoooommmmeee), a huge aquarium called the Underwater World (big sister to Ancol’s SeaWorld), a huge Merlion statue where they put a café inside, one big giant wheel of lift claiming to be the highest point in Singapore (its 150 m high), a 4D cinema, Cinemagiz and CineBlast, one Butterfly Park, a pyrotechnic and water fountain show called Songs of The Sea, a trekking route called the Dragon trail, a museum, and the last point of the oldest cable car ride in Singapore (from Mount Faber to Sentosa and one attraction that we saw today: Pink Dolphin at the Dolphin lagoon. 

Sentosa also has 3 beaches: Siloso, Palawan and Tanjong beaches. Siloso is the most populated and crowded beach. It offers a flying trapeze play where you can learn to swing like a trapeze at circus, beach volley ball fields, canoing facilities, bike trekking, three hotels, three bars (one is the Café Del Mar – hailing from Spain they said). Palawan is the number two beach that offers Palawan Amphitheater (sorta like the Gelanggang Samudra in Ancol), a food court (it’s not Singapore if you couldn’t find a food court nearby) and the famous Dolphin Lagoon where the Pink Dolphin show is staged. The Tanjong beach is basically empty. Everything is still under development.

 

You might be thinking of why am I blabbering on something that you can read in Sentosa’s website? Well, its because I do not have anything to say about Sentosa except what has been included in the website. But I will try to tell you how I see Sentosa from an Indonesian point of view.

 

Well, if you’re looking for fascinating beaches: Bali, Lombok and Phuket are waaaaaayyyy better. .

 

The beaches have no waves. There is no wind, let alone a tunnel wave or wave-hitting the shore kind of sound. It is very calm; you might mistaken the beach that faces the real sea as the border of a giant pond. There are small waves, but only when a big ship or ferry was passing by around 500 meter from the beach. In fact the beach is so wave-less, I am wondering of why they would need lifeguards and warning flags waving at the beaches.

 

In all Sentosa beaches, your eyes will feast on an array of: container, oil tankers and cargo ships. Where at night, you will be entertained by the lights from the nearby Bukom Island where there is a Shell refinery facility.

 

Sentosa wins with its facilities. Access is within easy reach (well, the island is miniscule in size) and public transport in this island is a dream come true. Public facilities are something that Ancol can learn about. Sentosa have two public halls, where companies, schools or just a group of tai tai doing arisan can rent and do their own thing. This being a well equipped pavilion, not tent and tikar type of public area.

The Pink Dolphin show is a class of its own. First of all, I didn’t know that there are dolphins that are pink. I thought all dolphins are grey. Apparently Indo-Pacific (hehehehe..sound like someone I know) dolphins are pink. They are born grey then turned pink at the age of 10 above. Anyhow, the show is staged in a lagoon, so the surrounding resembles a beach where you sit on a plastic chair under a white tent with sands on your feet and only around 3 meters away from the lagoon’s beach. A different set than the dolphin show in Gelanggang Samudra right?

 

While we are waiting for the show, we were entertained by two banci tampil dolphins which we later found out are named Hans and Yang. These two dolphins swam near the beach and pose, yep, they posed in front of the audience, begging for photographs to be taken. First I wasn’t tempted to take pictures, but after 15 minutes, these two cute and banci tampil dolphins have my heart and I took their pictures. They roll on their backs, wave with their fins and wiggle their rear tail for the photographers. Aren’t they cuuutteeee???

 

The show lasted around 30 minutes, which followed by a photo session (for SGD 15) where you can get wet and pet and be kissed by either  Jumbo, Hans or Yang. The photographer for this session uses a Nikon camera with wi-fi, so after he took the picture, it is directly zoomed to the printer and in just minutes, the picture will be ready. No need to rush to a photo developing kiosks, or change the memory card or plug in the cable. It goes wirelessly.

 

 Hubby said that the Gelanggang Samudra dolphins can do more tricks than Jumbo, Hans and Yang. But I think the show in Sentosa is better, because the Sentosa dolphins are cuter, friendlier and closer. Hehehehe.. And not to mention that here, there are information that educates us about the dolphins. Not only where they are originating from, but also their body parts, the use of their fins etc. Maybe it’s just me that think the information is a great addition to the show.

 

Oh..yeah…if you go see the pink dolphins you will also be entitled to go to Underwater World. Remember, I thought this place is just same same with SeaWorld. Well it is similar. But here, the fishes are more fascinating. They showed a great giant and ancient fish, the Arapaima fish found in deep waters and thought to be extinct already. They have the sea angle fishes – cell type fishes that is blind and lived in the poles. Oh. I need to tell you that the fish tank uses RFID technology where when a certain fish passed through the RFID sensor, information about the fish appeared in the screen next to the aquarium. Cool.

 

Me and the kids tried the sky ride and going downhill by the luge. Hubby dowan to go. He’s afraid of heights. So, me and my two younglings rode on the swing chair and lifted high above the trees with our feet hanging. I have lots of butterflies in my tummy at that time. But the kids seems to enjoy it. So I pretend not to show that I’m scared shitless. Hehehe.

 

During our ride up, a tower took our picture which is ready to be purchased once we are off the skyride. And off we go on the luge. Again, our picture when we are crossing the finish line is taken. Once we’re off the luge, we can purchase the picture, hot and ready. I wonder when will party organizers or conference photographers in Indonesia will be able to use this technology ya? Or have they use it already? Last time I have an event (which is six month ago) they are still using the old technology of printing them at the kiosk. Maybe the infrastructure has not arrived in Indonesia yet…..

 

Well, I’m now at the pool near the beach, writing this to you and uploading my story to my blog via the wireless hotspots available almost everywhere in this island.

 

Bye now.

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A Bintaroan in Singapore: Please Proceed to Your Pick Up Point

Maybe you are wondering about the title – what’s a pick up point? Well today, I’ll be writing about ordering a taxi in Singapore.

Back home, you memorize 7981234 for Blue Bird and some other number for other taxi company. Well here, you just need to call 6552 1111 and it will dispatch your call to whichever taxi company that is available. There are Comfort TAxi, Silver Cab, MaxiCab and SMRT Taxi companies in Singapore. You just need one number to get a booking. Great mechanism.

If you buy a Singapore SIM Card, it will automatically includes taxi booking number in their automatic dial. Talk about efficiency here.

In Singapore, the taxi dispatch will automatically save your last two pick up points, so the next time you call a cab, you will have automatic options of two of your last pick up points to expedite your booking. No need to talk to the dispatch lady. But if you need to be picked up in different locations, then you will still need to talk to a person. You just need to wait (normally not more than 3 minutes) and a machine will tell you: please hold the line, your taxi number will be informed to you shortly. Soon after, you will hear another voice telling you: XXX taxi number XXX will be arriving in 5 to 7 minutes. Please proceed to your pick up point. And the taxi will come in 5 minutes.

In some public places, such as hospitals, major malls and offices, there will be notification near the taxi stand that if you want to book a taxi, please dial a 4-digit number that will automatically identify your pick up point. It so convenient.

Of course if you book a taxi, you will have a certain booking fee to pay. Normally it’s between SGD 2.50 to SGD 4. Depending on the hour. Yes, Jude — taxis here have different rates for different hours and area (there…I put it in my blog).

How did they do such an efficient booking procedures? Because taxis here are fully equipped with GPS system. Dispatch will be able to easily identify which taxi is the closest to a taxi booking request and the message will be sent directly to the taxi driver (not his mobile phone or cb radio, but directly to the screen) along with phone number of the requestee.

When the taxi arrived, the requestee will be called (again, by the machine) notifiying him/her that: XXX taxi number XXX has arrived at the pick up point. Great! If you are not yet at the pick up point, then the taxi driver will call you to your mobile phone. So, make sure you are not late going to your pick up line.

Well, don’t be disappointed. Blue Bird can do that too, but only if you order way in advance and through the taxi pool, where your taxi booking will be recorded and they will know exactly the taxi number that is being dispatched to your house.

Taxi booking is extremely handy during rush hour or during shift change hours where most taxis will have a notification in their cabs on the direction they are heading. Those queuing in line can jump of the line (the only thing that is acceptable here) if they are going towards the same direction with the taxi.

In a country where public transportation such as MRT and public busses are very efficient — taxi booking needs to compete with the other public transport as well. Even first time traveler to Singapore will be able to easily understand the system.

I remember two months ago, my Thai friend who was visiting Jakarta called me at 9.30pm asking me to call a cab for her who was shopping at Sarinah Thamrin. She was nearly in tears, as she couldn’t find a taxi stand and its getting dark already. I told here that I couldn’t call a cab for her because there is no such system here. But I call Bluebird anyway. The Blue Bird ‘mbak‘, laugh and say: bu, bilang aja untuk jalan ke jalan Sunda. Di sana kan suka banyak taksi mangkal. Kita sih gak bisa ngirim taxi ke situ. hehehehe

That’s my country.

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A Bintaroan in Singapore: Tech Savvy Doctors

This morning the clan went to see my hubby’s old doctor from NUH who moves to private practice. He is now has clinic at Camden Medical Center, smack in the middle of the busy Orchard Road and Orchard Boulevard. Its definitely a different environment from NUH. Now..don’t get me wrong. I like NUH, I loveeeeee NUH. It’s probably one of the places that I felt most comfortable in Singapore. Sounds creepy eh…comfortable in hospital. But NUH, although it is a university hospital – similar to what UI wants to build in Depok is definitely many steps above any hospital in Indonesia. Maybe UPH or Siloam in Karawaci will look like NUH..maybe not, considering there is still lots of Indonesian going to Singapore for medical purposes.

By the way….I wanted to share with you my amazement on tech savvy doctors/clinic. At Camden, the waiting area resembles a 5 star hotel lobby. With big sofas, coffee table and hi class magazines scattered around the lounge. We are sooooo worried that the consultation will cost a fortune. But we let that worry aside first.

Then, the nurse showed us to a waiting lounge and takes my hubby’s blood pressure and body temp. They use only one device for both tasks – all computerized.

After that they showed us to dr. M’s consultation room. And we were in total awe…….. The room didn’t look at all like a doctor’s consultation office. It has 3 chairs with one coffee table, one leather single seater couch, a leather bench, a desk drawer and one leather single bed for examination. This is awesome…….. I have to tell you, it didn’t stop here.

The nurse that showed us to the room, give hubby some paper to fill in and a wi-fi tablet PC. She told hubby to take answer questions in the tablet PC. We go through all the questions one by one, and at the end, there is a movie-player type information on cancer for National Cancer Support. And hubby is automatically registered in the support group in which he can browse the content at his leisure.

When dr. M came, he bring a print out document………..it consist of all the answers of questions that hubby answered. So, prior to consultation, dr. M already know my hubby’s status — whether he experience pain, headache, fatigue…etc..etc…we didn’t event know that it is linked directly to the system. W.O.W! I compare that with our system in Indonesia, in which hubby should fill in a form listed 50 questions on his condition – in which the doctors seldom use as the base of consultation, its probably just formalities………………………………docs in Indonesia might also not familiar in getting information from the net, which makes the patients often more knowledgeable than the docs. But hey…they still think that they know better than us……

And I need to tell you that our worry that the consultation will cost us a fortune is proven wrong. The cost? Same with consultation with doctors in NUH or SGH, SGD 85 for first consultation and SGD 55 for follow up consultation. Hah! Who said that in order to have a good service, we have to pay more?

 I often wonder why would Indonesian goes to Singapore to see their doctor and have their condition checked. Are all our doctors less smart than Singapore doctors? Definitely not. Our doctors have the same, or some maybe above, the expertise of Singapore doctors. But there are two things that doctors in Indonesia are mostly lacking: compassion and tech savviness.

Compassion is something that is very rare in Indonesia. Most foreign educated doctors in Indonesia probably have that. They may also have been equipped with the communication skills to talk to their patients compassionately. Home grown doctors are mostly still lacking in this area. I second the regulation for all doctors to be required to enroll in communications skills program. In fact they should not be entitlde for their practicing license if they did not pass the communications skill tests….now..I would really want to have that enforced.

The second one is something that I don’t think can happen in the near future. Tech savviness is something that not only doctors are lacking, government people and public servants are also lacking. Technology should be utilized to ease and cut red-tape. It’s not likely to be happening in Indonesia soon I think. Now lets talk about doctor’s tech savviness among doctors in Singapore. My hubby’s doctor carries Apple iBook G4. During consultation he quoted research studies and medicinal development from his iBook, and browse the net to show the latest information available. When he is still practicing in NUH, all my hubby’s medical records and tests are only a click away. He can pull all the medical records in seconds, print it out and gave it to us. If we have something to show him, we can save it in our flashdisk and he expertly plug it in and open. Hah! I wish hospitals in Indonesia is online like this, so we don’t have to wait for the blood test result to be printed in paper and bring it to our doc, as our doc should already have them in their computers in their consultation room.

SGH doctors – remember this being the equivalent of RSCM – also have the same technology. Everything is online. And everything is only a click away. Drug prescription: just put an entry in the computer, and click send – it will go directly to the cashier and the pharmacy. We just wait for our name to be called and pay, then go to the pharmacy to pick up our medicine. What a wonderful system.

I did my medical check up in NUH last August. Again..here everything is online. I was worried that I will have to carry big X-Ray films, USG scans etc. I am so relieved that all of that is being saved in a CD. Now, my next question will be: how am I going to show the result to my doctor in Indonesia, who doesn’t have a computer in his room, and probably clueless on how to open the file (well..that one is my exaggeration..hehehehe).

Well…nuff said. I’m in total awe and so amazed of how technology is used to its maximum potential in hospitals and by doctors in Singapore.

PS: my late father was a doctor, and he taught at UI and he was very much passionate about technology. Had he still around today, I can imagine his room will be filled with the latest gadgets. So, I don’t have any grudge against Indonesian doctors. I just wish they go out of their shells and sniff the smell of technology brewing all over the world.

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A Bintaroan in Singapore: Connectivity Everywhere

Wow….I’m on fire right now.

Hubby is resting, my kids are being entertained by the cartoons and I got nothing else to do besides blogging. Am at my rented apartment somewhere behind Orchard Road. Why am I not prowling the city looking for something to buy, you may ask? Well…the dough is not in the box, a.k.a gapundu. So, here I am. Sorry if I bore you with my stories…..

Anyway, I can blog whenever I want to here. I don’t necessarily need to find a warnet (what’s a warnet, a Singaporean might ponder), or I don’t necessarily need to find Starbucks. I can do it in the cozy corner of my house. But….my rented apartment doesn’t have a wi-fi installed yet? So how?

I just register at wireless@singapore. I think this is a Government initiative to provide connectivity to all people in Singapore and I think THIS IS A GREAT IDEA! Registration process is so simple. I went to Starbucks at Paragon and it automatically went to the website and I just registered using my passport. I hope this go on forever, because the note in the website said that this is provided for free until 2009, after that you have to pay for a small sum.

How I wish Jakarta can have the same thing. Maybe Bang Foke would like to initiate this? Bang Yos has the Busway, Bang Foke should make Jakarta a one big giant humongously grand hotspot, in my humble opinion that is.

Or maybe it can be started in one of the suburb. Bintaro can pioneer it. Hahahaha…wishful thinking again..

You know, I waited for my hubby’s bone marrow procedure two Fridays ago. Normally I’d be very worried if after an hour I haven;t been called to see him. But yesterday, I was busy replying work email (yeah…I’m officially on leave but I always have the urge to check my email) and chat with my friends, I nearly forgot that its been two hours. He was a bit furious when I finally went to see him. Time flies when you’re connected all the time. Hahahahahaha…so far I only know RS International Bintaro that has hotspot in their premise. I was in Singapore General Hospital — thats the equivalent of RSCM. Can you imagine RSCM as a hotspot? Another wishful thinking….

Anyway….I love Singapore for its modern life, clean environment (my daughter was coughing when we left Jakarta, after a day in Singapore, her cough was gone), great public transportation (you know what I mean laaaa — not busway type of public transport laaaa) and of course the ability to connect to the net from wherever you are. Isn’t it great if our beloved Jakarta can be like this?

Bang Foke…the ball is in your court now!

Yuk mariiii

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A Bintaroan in Singapore: The Power of Social Networking

Hullo!

It’s been a while since my last post eh? Well, Happy Lebaran to all of you who celebrated Idul Fitri — Lebaran didn’t go through Bintaro (my Bintaro that is), since I’m in S.I.N.G.A.P.O.R.E. Yep — I’ve been here for quite a while. Starting in early October, for 4 days, then go back to work in Jakarta for 3 days and off to Singapore again, this time for two weeks. Waks..so boring what? That’s singlish, if you know what I mean.

So, here goes. There are lots of things I want to share with you about me being in Singapore. First, let me tell you why I am here for such a long time — especially since its not in great sale season (there’s no sale in Singapore in Lebaran season tho). Hubby is applying for a drug trial — he got CML you know. So, how come we can come here? Because of SOCIAL NETWORKING! See….i told you that technology can definitely help us.

Nuff said — basically a social networking link, called AsianCMLSupportGroup helped hubby to apply for a drug trial, since his current medication is not working as it should be. I am a member of this support group mailing list since a year ago, rite after hubby is diagnosed. A nice and warm welcome note from the moderator warmed my heart last year. She even offered to get hubby to meet her hubby’s doctor in SGH. I said thanks, because hubby is already had an appointment at NUH. Then, I literally forgot about the mailing list, although the daily digest crowd my yahoo inbox everyday.

When hubby is in need of a new medication, a friend sent an email to the moderator, who replied back in 24 hours. And I open another discussion with her and here we are now. A friend whom I never saw face to face helped hubby to get in touch with doctors in SGH and talk to the doctors in SGH to consider hubby. I can not imagine how it can be done if there is no online social networking. See…it works and it should not be banned!

I’ve been here for almost 10 days now, I’ve never saw her…she is so busy with requests and emails and helping others in the region as well. A fellow CML patient even said that she (i prefer not to put her name here) probably has 48 hours in one day and use almost all of her time responding to emails. That might be true.

Another thing that amaze me was that before we went to Singapore, we communicated with the doctor and nurses and all paramedics through emails. It is another form of online consultation I think. And it is surely helping, considering that we must pay almost 3 million rupiah for one trip to Singapore (excluding lodging and shopping that is) — imagine if we have to travel back and forth on a weekly basis.  Aaaah…the power of the internet is so very true…

And here we are now….by the power of social networking, we search, find and communicate with people with the same interest, we were assisted by people that we haven’t met, and we found new friends, new horizon and new hope.

How I wish corporations and our government realize the power of social networking. It can make us a greater nation — i hope this is not wishful thinking….

buabuay! 

  

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